Four Isles with multi-point nights, career highs continue to rise

Game 73
Isles 5, Leafs 2 Matt Moulson scored the tie-breaking goal on a third period power play and later added an empty-net goal as the Islanders rallied from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2 before a crowd of 19,351 at Air Canada Centre in Toronto. The Isles are 3-1-1 on the road in their last five games and now have 35 road points – two more than all last season.

The Skinny
When Luke Schenn took a penalty early in the 2nd period, it ended a streak of 178:58 that the Isles had played against Toronto without being on the power play. Mark Streit has a five-game point streak (1-6-7), matching his career high as an Islander. Steve Staios played in his 993rd career game. The Isles had four different goal scorers for the first time since January 31 at Carolina. Bailey’s goal was his first in Toronto since he scored the overtime winner in Dwayne Roloson’s 58-save game (11/23/09). Moulson now has a career-high 32 goals, including 13 on the power play. It’s the most power-play goals by an Islander since Jason Blake had 14 in 2006-07. Matt Lombardi played in his 500th NHL game.

The Shots:
Isles 7-13-14=34
Maple Leafs 5-5-4 =14

It’s the first time since November 10, 2010 in Anaheim that the Isles have allowed 14 shots (or fewer). They have not allowed fewer than 14 shots since a February 16, 2008 game against Atlanta, when they allowed only 10. It’s the fewest shots Toronto have had against the Isles in any game since at least 1987.

Home and Road
The Islanders are 30-32-11 overall and are 15-16-5 on the road. The Isles improve to 12-3-1 in games that are tied after two periods.
Toronto is 32-34-8 overall and 16-14-6 at home. The Leafs have been outscored 13-2 over their last two games.

In the NetsEvgeni Nabokov stopped 12 shots to record his 310th career win. He is 17-18-3 on the season. It’s the seventh time in his career Nabokov has won a (complete) game where he faced 14 or fewer shots.
James Reimer made 29 saves for Toronto; he is now 13-14-4.

Leaning on #91John Tavares has 73 points (31-42-73) on 168 Islanders goals this season (43.5%). Zigmund Palffy (41.0% in 1997-98) is the only Islander to record points on over 40% of the team’s goals in a complete season. Tavares is the first Islander since Alexei Yashin (75 in 2001-02) to record at least 73 points in a season.

Royalty
Tavares is the fourth player in Islanders history to record at least 73 points at age 21 or younger. The other three have banners hanging at the Coliseum: Mike Bossy, Bryan Trottier and Denis Potvin.

Parenteau’s Helping HandsPA Parenteau has 48 assists – most by any Islander since Pierre Turgeon had in 1993-94. He now has 64 points on the season.

61*
The Isles now have three players with at least 61 points (Tavares, Moulson, Parenteau). It’s the first time since 1993-94 that the Isles have at least three players with 61 points.

Power Plays
The Islanders went 1-4 on the power play while Toronto was 0-1. The Isles are 7-47 in the last 14 games with the extra man and have killed only 30 of 43 in the same span.

They Said ItEvgeni Nabokov: “Like always, you have to find a motivation…you have to have a pride in the room… play with passion, and see what happens. That’s the bottom line.”

They Tweeted It
@StapeNewsday: Parenteau adds a breakaway goal at 15:43, and the Air Canada Centre is filled with boos. Not so filled with fans anymore. 4-2

The Coach
“It was a game that they were ready for…the guys were prepared…all four lines contributed.”

Leading Ice MenMark Streit led the Isles with 24:08; Dion Phaneuf led Toronto with 24:26.

In the Circle
The Islanders won 23 draws; the Leafs won 29. Frans Nielsen won 6 of 7 for the Isles; Mikhail Grabovski won 7 of 12 for Toronto.

Heavy Hitters
The Islanders out-hit Toronto 29-24. NHL hits leader Matt Martin led the way with seven hits. Martin has a club record 338 hits (hits have only been recorded since 2005-06) and leads the NHL in hits by a wide margin. The NHL record is 356, set by Cal Clutterbuck of Minnesota in 2008-09. Martin has also recorded 13 of the team’s 21 fighting majors this season.

Lots of Blocks
The Isles were credited with 13 blocks. They lead the NHL with 1,233.

Third period goals include nine empty-net goals for the Islanders and an NHL-leading 13 empty-net goals against the Isles.

All-time Winners
The Islanders improve to three games over all-time NHL .500 (1343-1340-432 in 3,115 games). The Isles have twice this season been one game below .500. Prior to this season, they had not been below NHL .500 since they were 177-178-83 prior to their victory on January 16, 1978.

Scoring
The Isles have scored 96 goals in their 30 wins (3.20 per game) and 73 goals in their other 43 games (0-32-11; 1.70 per game). In their 32 regulation losses, the Isles have scored 41 goals (1.28 per game).

Head of the ClassJohn Tavares has 194 career points; he is 45 points ahead of Matt Duchene for most among 2009 draft picks. No other player in that draft is anywhere close. Tavares also has more goals and more assists than any other player in that draft.

Friends, Friends, Friends
Moulson has 32 goals this season; John Tavares has earned assists on 21 of them. He has now been on-ice for 56 consecutive Moulson goals, earning assists on 37 of them, dating back to a Moulson goal on November 17, 2010 against Tampa Bay.

99er
Moulson now has 99 career goals (93 as an Islander). While 262 players were selected ahead of Moulson in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, only 18 have more goals.

30-30-30Matt Moulson is the first Islander since Ziggy Palffy (1995-96 to 1997-98) to have at least three consecutive 30-goal seasons. Only four players in Islanders history have had more 30-goal seasons: Trottier (11), Bossy (10), Gillies (6) and LaFontaine (6). Moulson has 93 goals as an Islander – the most by any Islander since the work stoppage. Moulson has opened the scoring an NHL-leading 11 times this season and the Isles are 9-1-1 when he does so. He is the first Islander with at least 11 opening goals since Alexei Yashin had 12 in 2001-02.

30-30
Tavares and Moulson give the Isles two 30-goal scorers for the second straight season (Grabner 34, Moulson 31 last year). Prior to last year, the Isles had not had two 30-goal scorers since 2001-02 (Alexei Yashin & Mark Parrish). It’s the first time since 1992-93 and 1993-94 that the Isles have had multiple 30-goal scorers in consecutive seasons (4 in both 92-93 and 93-94).

20-20-20 x 2
Moulson and Tavares are the first Islanders teammates to record at least 20 goals in three straight seasons since Mark Parrish and Jason Blake did so in 2002-03, 2003-04, and 2005-06. Tavares is the fifth player to score at least 20 goals for the Islanders in each of his first three NHL seasons, joining:
• Billy Harris (first six seasons: 1972-73 through 1977-78)
• Clark Gillies (five: 1974-75 through 1978-79)
• Bryan Trottier (13: 1975-76 through 1987-88)
• Mike Bossy (all 10 seasons: 1977-78 through 1986-87)

Captain, My CaptainMark Streit had two more assists, giving him 42 points. He joins a select group of Islanders defensemen to record 40 points at least three times in his career and the first to do so that frequently in nearly a quarter-century:
• Denis Potvin - 15 times (1973-74 to 1987-88)
• Tomas Jonsson - five times (1982-83 to 1987-88, except 1986-87)
• Stefan Persson - four times (1977-78 to 1981-82, except 1979-80)

Only three other Islanders defenders have recorded 40 points in the 2000s:
Tom Poti (2006-07), Adrian Aucoin (2003-04) and Roman Hamrlik (2000-01 and 2002-03).

With 36 assists this season, Streit also joins D. Potvin and Persson as the only Isles defenders to have at least three seasons with at least 36 assists (Potvin - 12 times, Persson - four times)

IronmanMatt Moulson, the Isles’ reigning ironman, has played in all 237 games since joining the team. Moulson’s streak is the longest for an Islander in the Post-Cup era. Billy Harris played in the first 576 games in Islanders history; that figure still stands as the club record.Frans Nielsen and John Tavares have also played in every game this season while Mark Streit is the only Islanders defender to do so. The Isles have not had as many as four players play in every game since 1986-87.

Career Years
• Matt Moulson: 32 goals, 29 assists and 61 points are new career highs.
• PA Parenteau: 48 assists and 64 points are new career highs. He has 16 goals, four shy of his career best.
• John Tavares: 31 goals, 42 assists and 73 points are new career highs.
• Frans Nielsen: 14 goals are a new career-high.
• Travis Hamonic: He has 19 assists, two shy of a career high.
• Andrew MacDonald: Five goals are a new career high.
• Matt Martin: Seven goals are a new career high. He has 14 points, two shy of his career best.

Season Series Stats
The Leafs won the season series three games to one (six points to three). The Isles are 4-4-1 in their last nine trips to Toronto, but this was their first regulation win in Toronto since February 14, 2008.

Happy Anniversary
24 years ago Tuesday (3-20-88): Billy Smith records his 22nd (and final) career regular season shutout as the Isles blast the Jets 6-0 in Winnipeg.
All-time, the Isles are 10-6-3 on this date, despite having not hosted a game on this date since 1994.

On The Farm
The Sound Tigers are 32-23-3-5 overall, but are 0-4-0-2 in their last six. Bridgeport has 72 points and trails Connecticut by four points for the division lead. Bridgeport visits Binghamton on Wednesday.

Up Next
SATURDAY, MARCH 24th ISLANDERS AT TAMPA BAY 7 p.m.
[MSG+ (Islanders Game Night at 6:30pm), WRHU (88.7FM)]
The Islanders and Lightning conclude their season series on Saturday in Tampa. The home team has won each of the first three meetings this season, with Al Montoya holding both Islanders victories. John Tavares has three goals and three assists in the first three games.

Eric Hornick has been the statistician on Islander home game telecasts since 1982. Information contained in “The Skinny” has been gathered from various sources. Follow Eric @ehornick on Twitter.